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Smith & Huskers fall to Hawkeyes in low scoring matchup

January 1st, 2014 | Tags: basketball Nebraska Huskers Iowa Hawkeyes Leslee Smith
Virgin Islander, Leslee Smith (left) had his quietest night of the season on the court as the Huskers lost their Conference opener, 57-67, to Iowa on Tuesday, December 31, 2013. Photo: supplied
The Huskers nearly cut a 20 point second half deficit behind a double-double performance from sophomores Terran Petteway and Walter Pitchford. Photo: supplied
The Huskers nearly cut a 20 point second half deficit behind a double-double performance from sophomores Terran Petteway and Walter Pitchford. Photo: supplied
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI - Hours after stating how happy he was with the way things are going for him at the University of Nebraska, Virgin Islander Leslee Smith had his quietest night of the season on the court as the Huskers lost their Conference opener, 57-67, to Iowa on Tuesday, December 31, 2013.

Smith played 10 minutes, missed his two field goal attempts, picked up two rebounds and made a steal as the Huskers nearly cut a 20 point second half deficit behind a double-double performance from sophomores Terran Petteway and Walter Pitchford.

Nebraska trailed 55-35 with 8:16 left, only to go on a 20-5 spurt behind the play of Petteway and junior Deverell Biggs, pulling within 60-55 after a Petteway 3-pointer with 1:45 left. The Huskers trailed 61-55 and had the ball with under a minute left, but a costly turnover ended the run, as Iowa had 6-of-8 foul shots in the final 47 seconds to hold on for the win.

Smith had earlier commented how well things were going for him at his new University “It’s going a lot better than I thought,” he said, “I came out pretty good, have been consistent in both games and practice. My knee is holding up pretty fine and I haven’t had to sit any games or practice, so it’s going pretty smooth. We have a great Coaching staff, a great game staff, to take care of players here and I think everything is going well.”

Nebraska (8-5, 0-1 Big Ten) shot just 30 percent from the field, but stood tall against the Big Ten’s best rebounding team. The Huskers out-rebounded the Hawkeyes, 44-42, behind career highs from both Petteway and Pitchford.  Petteway led Nebraska was a game-high 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, while Pitchford posted his second double-double in the losing effort with 13 points and a season-high 12 rebounds.

Roy Devyn Marble led Iowa (12-2, 1-0 Big Ten) with 13 points, while Aaron White had 13 points, including nine in a 16-3 Hawkeye run to close the first half and seven rebounds.

In the first half, the Hawkeyes took control over the final minutes, overcoming a six-point deficit with a 16-3 spurt over the final eight minutes.  The Huskers did a good job defensively, holding Iowa to 46.2 percent shooting and out-rebounded the Hawkeyes, 27-21 in the first half. The Huskers struggled from the floor, hitting just 26 percent from the field, including 2-of-9 from 3-point range.

Nebraska led 7-6 early behind strong play from Petteway and Pitchford, but Iowa went on a 7-0 run to take a 13-7 lead on a Marble basket off a putback.

Nebraska fought back, using a 13-1 surge to take its largest lead of the half at 20-14 on a Biggs jumper with 9:03 left in the half.  Biggs came off the bench for a pair of baskets in the spurt, which featured 11 straight points from the Huskers over a span of 4:21, and finished with 12 points and a pair of steals.

The Huskers pulled to within 32-27 after a Pitchford puback, but Iowa made an effort to get the ball inside and two straight Adam Woodbury baskets pushed the lead back to 10 at 37-27 and forced a Husker timeout. Woodbury had six of Iowa’s first seven points of the second half and finished with eight points.

Nebraska kept battling, getting to within 46-35 after a pair of Pitchford free throws, but Iowa took control, running off nine straight points capped by a steal and dunk by White to make it 55-35.

The Huskers made one last run behind the play of Biggs, who had seven points in a 13-4 run to pull Nebraska within 59-48. The Huskers took advantage of a poor foul shooting night by Iowa, as the Hawkeyes went just 22-of-39 from the stripe to get back into the game. Trailing 60-48, Petteway keyed a run of seven straight points with a conventional 3-point play before his 3-pointer from the top of the key cut the Iowa lead to five.

The Huskers return to action on Saturday, when they face No. 3 Ohio State. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. (CT) and the game will be on the Husker Sports Network and televised nationally by the Big Ten Network.

3 Responses to “Smith & Huskers fall to Hawkeyes in low scoring matchup”

  • -----+++++++ (01/01/2014, 13:52) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Oh yea to our local boys
  • ball man (01/01/2014, 14:45) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    dey dude need some more playin time
  • DOREE (01/01/2014, 15:07) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    THE HUSKERS BASKETBALL TEAM IS NOT GOING TO WIN ANY CONFERENCE GAME UNLESS TIM NILES PLAY A COACH'S ROLE, AND ALSO THE PLAYERS NEED TO SHARE THE BALL MORE. THE BIG MEN SHOULD PROTECT THE OAINT MORE.




















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